Name is Lewis. Damian Lewis.

Rumor has it that Damian Lewis is in “the running” to be the next James Bond. What do I feel about it? My partner JaniaJania’s tweet says it all about what I feel:

source: JaniaJania

It’s a rumor. So probably not true. But an EXCITING and FUN rumor. Because… well, Damian Lewis is Damian Lewis. If he became James Bond, he would bring to life a 007 that no one has ever seen before — yes “he’d be the most emotionally accessible and human superhero ever.”

Then again it’s a rumor and we don’t even have to take it seriously but why not have some FUN with it? And, of course, as the great man 007 himself said:

“Never say Never.”

Now… What do we know about the standing different actors have regarding the world’s most famous fictional spy?

source: telegraph.co.uk

First, Daniel Craig is still shooting scenes for The Spectre, the latest Bond movie that is expected to hit movie theaters in November 2015. And, moreover, if everything goes according to his contract, Daniel Craig still has one more James Bond movie to shoot after The Spectre.

Still, there has been loud speculation complete with a long list of actors rumored to be in the running to be the next James Bond for some time now. And, it’s a serious “Who’s Who of British Actors” list with names like Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Dan Stevens, Tom Hiddlestone, Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender, James Purefoy, Orlando Bloom and yes, our own Damian Lewis!

In fact, after the Sony Hack during the whole “The Interview” mess, a leaked memo from Sony Entertainment revealed that Idris Elba is Amy Pascal’s, the co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, favorite and she said in an email that Elba, 42, “should be the next Bond”.

source: mirror.co.uk

Well, I love Idris Elba. If you saw him as Stringer Bell in The Wire — one of the best things that has happened to TV in recent memory — chances are, you love him , too! He’s a wonderful actor that would make a wonderful Bond. And, until yesterday, all bets were on him to be the next 007.

So, what happened?

It turns out that, out of blue, a week after The Spectre trailer was released, a sudden flood of bets — going up to 200 pounds came in — on Damian Lewis being cast as the next James Bond.

In case you want to examine The Spectre trailer to see whether there is any hint to Damian Lewis being the next James Bond, here it is:

But… Joke aside, what happened?

Well, William Hill is one of the biggest gambling and betting companies in the world. They have bets on everything you can imagine — horses, sports, poker, casino, and even, yes, who will be the NEXT James Bond!

The company, after the flood of bets coming in for Damian Lewis as the next James Bond, seems to have slashed the odds on him from 25/1 to 3/1 by June 15 making Damian Lewis the second favorite for 007 just behind Idris Elba.

William Hill spokesperson Rupert Adams says: “This is an unprecedented gamble, as for no apparent reason we have seen bets of up to £200 on Damian Lewis being named as the next Bond. This might well be significant.”

I believe, by last night Damian had topped the list. I don’t really know what the ranking is at this very moment. Now… In case you take these bets seriously, want to follow them, there is a website that shows the bets on The Next James Bond in comparison: You can see William Hill, Betfair, Ladbrokes and all others and bet yourself as well. Just scroll down and have fun with names like James Bond (I am not kidding!) and Barack Obama (A second career? No, I am not kidding about this, either!) on the bets.

Here is a screen shot on the bets on June 15, 2015 at 5:25pm (EST):

source: oddchecker.com

And, in case you are curious, no, I am not betting 😀

You know, in absence of information, we human beings love to speculate.. so, here I go:

Could it be that The Spectre trailer release made people pay more attention to who will be the next James Bond and they started to bet on their favorite actor and Damian Lewis turned out to be that favorite?

Could it be that someone somehow got some private information and bet on Damian Lewis, and others that saw this bet have just followed that pushed the bets up to 200 pounds?

Could it be that it is all random somehow?

Does it really matter? It’s really EXCITING and it is FUN to see your favorite actor’s name in a bet for such a high profile role.

Damian Lewis with James Purefoy, another great actor from the candidate list, source: dailymail.co.uk

Personally, I would, of course be very happy if Damian Lewis got the role and brought us a James Bond that I guess would be a very healthy combination of funny and smart, but I would not mind a bit if he did not become James Bond, either. Because I know, I just know, that he will just make a great job with whatever role comes his way, and it’s very exciting just to think about the wonderful possibilities in his exciting career!

The funniest thing for me though is how this possibility of Damian Lewis being the next Bond has divided people on Social Media again with tweets commenting on, YES, his hair color! “Yes, the world is ready for a ginger Bond” versus “Do you really want to have a ginger Bond?” tweets have come in. I am exaggerating, of course, there are only a few emails like that but they always crack me up and I am sure they would crack up Damian, too; because he has a very good sense of humor. These tweets obviously prove the point that we talked about here just last Friday… People just cannot be indifferent to the guy’s hair color. It’s hilarious!

source: freshnessmag.com

In the meantime, if you want to have your imagination at work and dream of Damian Lewis as 007, here is Damian Lewis as close as he gets to James Bond in the Short Movie Desire that we shared with you a couple of months ago. Feel free to enjoy the movie here!

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Author: Damianista

Academic, Traveler, Blogger, Runner, Theatre Lover, Wine Snob, Part-time New Yorker, and Walking Damian Lewis Encyclopedia :D Procrastinated about a fan's diary on Damian Lewis for a while and the rest is history!
View all posts by Damianista

He would storm it and give us a James Bond that no one has ever seen before. But I understand that you want him in a more dramatic role (this is what I got in Google Translate, I don’t knoe French) – I agree with your point but James Bond is such a big cultural heritage that I cannot resist smiling when I think about the possibility. However, I would not mind at all if he did not become the next Bond, he will do great things with whatever good material comes his way! This is just fun and exciting even in the form of a rumor 😀 Let’s enjoy it!